Rotary meets this Wednesday, December 7, for lunch at the Lincoln Center, and welcomes local bison expert and CSU faculty member Jennifer Barfield. Following her intro, to be done by Randy Kurtz, our guest will discuss her work and the history of Soapstone Prairie ,Natural Area, a 28-square-mile park and conservation area in northeastern Larimer County. The City of Fort Collins purchased the land for Soapstone Prairie Natural Area in 2004, which was opened to the public in 2009. The natural habitat of eastern Colorado was shortgrass prairie, and its historical role was habitat for the American bison.
Cadet Megan Litchfield is the Rotary Cadet of the Month - December 2023! Megan is a junior majoring in Business Administration and hails from Olympia, Washington. While in high school Megan was an active Interact member for four years and received the Rotary Scholarship. She spoke highly of her positive and encouraging Rotary experience, and praised Rotary’s ‘giving back to the community’ and Service Before Self tenets. She still keeps in touch with Rotary members from Olympia! Megan is internalizing the Army ROTC program elements and Captain Chaka highlighted how she “invests in others”. Upon graduation in 2024 she is interested in pursuing Active Duty service in the Transportation career field to focus on logistics. Congratulations and Rotary’s best wishes for success!!!
The Community grants committee recently awarded a Health and Welfare Program grant to “A Friend for You”. Our $3,000 grant will help support underserved expectant mothers in Larimer County by providing them with unconditional personalized support through mentoring, tangible services, and connection to community resources. They help reduce isolation for low-income and marginalized expectant mothers. Accepting our check is Lorraine Meyers, Executive Director.
On Wednesday, December 7, the DEI Fellowship will host Alma Vigo Morales, co-founder of Diversity Solutions Group. Vigo-Morales will share with us three keys to Intercultural Competence – Knowledge/Awareness, Mindfulness and Skills. The DEI Fellowship will start immediately following the noon Rotary meeting (~1:10) in the Columbine Room at the Lincoln Center and will be Zoom streamed live. All are welcome at both the noon meeting and the DEI Fellowship.
Last week our speaker was Sebastian Africano, the Executive Director of Fort Collins-based non-profit Trees, Water & People (TWP). This organization was founded in 1998 by two foresters, Richard Fox and Stuart Conway to address deforestation in Latin America. Their geographic focus began in Central America where much of the family cooking is done indoors with firewood, accelerating deforestation and serious attendant health hazards (especially premature respiratory disease). Their earliest project was the development of clean (locally produced) cookstoves. Recently, published studies done with CSU have scientifically demonstrated the health benefits of this stove as women reduce their daily exposure to smoke.
